Ethanol has widespread application as an industrial chemical, gasoline additive or straight liquid fuel. As a fuel or fuel additive, ethanol dramatically reduces air emissions while improving engine performance. As a renewable fuel, ethanol reduces national dependence on finite and largely foreign fossil fuel sources while decreasing the net accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Fermentation processes are used for the production of ethanol. There are a large number of disclosures concerning production of alcohol by fermentation, among which are, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,017 and CA 1,143,677. EP 138428 mentions an Aspergillus niger alpha-amylase preparation for use in liquefaction in the alcohol industry.
There is a need for further improvement of ethanol manufacturing processes.